'The non-aligned club, as it stands today, cannot solve any issues'

"If Bangalore has to have high-rise buildings, they should be constructed only on the outskirts of the city. One must learn from the experience of Bombay. High-rise buildings are not only eyesores but disturb ecological balance, creating congestion."

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October 22, 2013

ISSUE DATE: April 30, 1983

UPDATED: June 4, 2014 12:59 IST

The Big Boom

The article "Bangalore - The Boom City" (April 15) was very informative. The fact that Bangalore is erasing its past can be further proved by the proposal to demolish the legendary high court building.

BangaloreSathya

Even after living in Bangalore for 19 years, I did not know so much about the city as your story told me.

BombayV. Prasanna

If Bangalore has to have high-rise buildings, they should be constructed only on the outskirts of the city. One must learn from the experience of Bombay. High-rise buildings are not only eyesores but disturb ecological balance, creating congestion.

BangaloreDilip Gadkari

While a certain amount of industrialisation is essential for a city, the amount that has taken place in Bangalore is disastrous. The result is that with trees felled, the people of Bangalore have faced the hottest March in 50 years. Pollution is at an all-time high.

BangaloreVikas Anand

The anatomy of Bangalore in "The Boom City" was superb. The city was once called the air-conditioned city but the weather is even hotter than the sweltering heat of Madras. The unbridled expansion of industries and mushrooming skyscrapers have made the salubrious climate of this cosmopolitan garden city a forgotten thing of the past. Besides this the imported culture of the West has dealt a death-blow to its unique culture. Bangaloreans have just cause to regret the growth of the city.

BangaloreRamanand Sharma

The great Seth Walchand Hirachand was the unique pioneer who set up manufacture of aircraft, ships and cars. He did not start HAL for repairs of planes as mentioned in the story. HAL started doing that only after it was nationalised.

BombayK.K. Banerjee

HAL was started with the intentions of manufacturing aircraft. If manufactured only two aircraft before the Government of India took it over in 1982. It was only after 1943 when the US Air Force took over the management that it was used as an overhauling station.

Editor

Unbreakable Bounds

"The Burden of Freedom" (April 15) gives an excellent account of the misrule by Congress(I) governments. The 20-point programme has become a vehicle to exploit the poor. Had they been sincere, we would not have so many bonded labourers in India.

ArrahParam Hans Singh

Action Stations

"Congress(I): Bracing For Action" made interesting reading. But it is unfortunate that the Congress(I), claiming to be a people's party, in touch with the masses, is so only when the elections come around.

BombayHusain E. Beguwala

Party Time

While agreeing with the pessimistic assessment of Maneka Gandhi's political future (April 15) one must at the same time point out that Mrs Indira Gandhi also rose to power without any national plan. Instead she simply bamboozled the masses in the name of her father and offered socialism. Now that the socialism cooked by her has produced a stale broth, her daughter-in-law wants to serve a different recipe.

CalcuttaK. Susrita

Congratulations to Maneka Gandhi for launching a new political party with the five-point programme. However, with the political atmosphere in the country, her party cannot make a successful beginning. At present, it can be a party of compassion only.

MadrasK.V. Rajagopalan

A Clarification

In our issue of April 30, 1982, we published an article on Maharashtra entitled 'State of Distress' in which we referred to Mr Satish Pednekar, then Chairman of the Zonal Cement Allotment Committee, as a slum lord of sorts and said that during his tenure his company Manish Builders constructed 150 buildings.

On further inquiry we find that Mr Pednekar is not a slum lord of any kind and that he has nothing to do with Manish Builders or buildings constructed by them. We also find that no cement was allotted to them by Mr Pednekar by any irregular means. We regret the error.

Editor

Considering the general tendencies of the public and the media ("India Takes Charge", March 31) to shower encomiums on Mrs Gandhi on her being elected the chairman of the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) as if some extraordinary honour had been bestowed on the most deserving person, I would like to ask, whether the NAM, having met at New Delhi, could have meant anyone being elected other than the hostess or could it have been Mrs Gandhi if the meet had taken place at Baghdad as originally planned?

BombayK.R. Devadoss

One fails to understand why there is so much euphoria in this country over the NAM when nothing of note has been achieved except the passing of the leadership to India's hands.

TirunelveliK. Baskar

It goes to the credit of India's diplomatic manoeuvring that explosive issues like Kampuchea, the Iran-Iraq war, Palestine and Afghanistan didn't impede the summit proceedings.

India has the difficult task of having the responsibility of managing NAM affairs for the next three years, but Mrs Gandhi as the leader has the capability to steer clear of the two power blocs.

FaridabadGeetha Balasubramaniam

The Indira Government has followed in the footsteps of Fidel Castro in keeping the Kampuchea seat vacant. In fact, by doing so, they have served the purpose of their Soviet masters by bringing the status of Heng Samrin's regime at par with that of the coalition led by Prince Sihanouk, who is, in fact, the rightful occupant of the seat.

CalcuttaNirendra Nagar

Mrs Gandhi has once again boosted India's image. Though this show may not mean much to the superpowers, it will provide the mouthpiece for the Third World.

BhopalS. Saxena

The NAM is not factual. The members are aligned with each other and actually constitute a third party.

ColomboHarnold Colner

It was sad to note that while Assam burnt and Punjab faced tremendous tension, the Centre was busy making elaborate arrangements for NAM.

HamirpurS.S. Patial

Your coverage of the summit was disappointing. You should have supplemented the article with many more colour photographs.

BangaloreGopal Rajan

It would have been a fitting finale had NAM issued the draft declaration, proclaiming 'unity among its members and their desire to work for world peace', on April 1.

ChhatarpurSatyajit Pratap

The non-aligned club, as it stands today, cannot solve any issues. The members do not have any defined goals. As long as they are underdeveloped and dependent on others, their appeals will fall on deaf ears.

MuzaffarnagarAnil Kumar Arora

The coverage of the NAM was superb.

MirajP.S. Pawar

We wish that a similar international conference takes place in Madras so that, like New Delhi, it is also beautified.

MadrasV.N. Narayanaswamy

While Delhiites were happy about the city's face-lift, the fact that hoteliers benefited, the summit held little interest for the1 rest of the country.

CalcuttaMihir Bain

Your photograph showing 'Zia at Friday prayers at Delhi' (March 31) is a stark reminder of the fact that foreign Muslims enjoy privileges in India which are denied to Pakistan's Hindu and Sikh populations.

HoustonArvind Ghosh

Sad Plight

I was moved to read about the plight of Nihal Singh ("The Price Of Honesty", March 31). It can happen to anyone pitted against a corrupt system.

SrinagarM.H. Jowher

I hope that the article on Nihal Singh has an effect on the Government and justice is done to him, and others like him.

GoaG.D. Shanbhogne

For The Record

The name of Sridhar Chillal of Pune in "Nailed, at last" (Indianotes, March 31) has already appeared in the Guinness Book of Records.

WarangalSanjeev Choudhary

Vicious Circle

I hope our 'planners' will take a look at "A Runaway Economy" (March 31). It is depressing that the post-Independence state of India's economy still remains dismal. Surprisingly while the stagnant economy was limping through the years, the Government didn't bother to curb its own expenditures. What the country needs today are imaginative people at the top who can take bold decisions to lift the economy out of its present morass. It is a pity that after three decades, our planners still attribute our economic setback to "global conditions" and ask for aids and grants from other countries. Who will break away from this vicious circle?

TrivandrumK. Balagopal

Jay Dubashi rightly says that the Government has lost control over the fiscal affairs of the country. He, however, forgot to mention the mounting defence expenditure which, at Rs 6,000 crore, constitutes 17 per cent of the budget. This is one avenue where spending can be reduced.

CalcuttaJ. Mathew

It was a perfect analysis of the Indian economy. The time is ripe to formulate a model on which the economy should be based. Present planning techniques have, by and large, a bureaucratic approach. True economics seldom finds a place in the plans. Though political will is the centre round which an economy revolves, yet it is equally true that economic theory cannot be sidetracked. The only flaw in the Indian economy is that it does not consider growth theory as an important tool-kit. Rather, mathematical approach goes into it.

OrissaBhaskar Parichha

Prodigal Prodigy

It is high time that the Government puts an end to its income tax claims and sees to it that Dr Teja ("Return of the Prodigal", March 31) gets the respect he deserves. It is not every day that a prodigy like him is born. India will surely gain a lot by his advice. The ships he purhased in the early '60s are real beauties even after almost 20 years. It was only after he showed us the way that we started buying sophisticated vessels. You will find the people who worked under the "Jayanti" banner praising the good old times to this day. This loyalty is apparent among both the officers and the crew members of the "Jayanti Shipping Co". We have lost precious years trying to pin him down. It is time we finally opened our eyes and listened to him.

CochinShyamala Surendran

Kudos to India Today for presenting the genius of Dharma Teja in a rare interview.

New DelhiGargi

The article on Dr Dharma Teja made interesting reading. But the author failed to do him justice. On the one hand he glorified Dr Teja as a shipping tycoon, nuclear physicist, etc. but on the other, he titled the article the 'Return of the Prodigal'. If the correspondent's insight does not permit him to see glory in intelligence, capability, competence, confidence, fortitude, capacity, economic and financial wizardy, he should not have attempted such an article. But then, even he could not prevent the power and glory of Dr Teja from shining through.

DelhiPraveen Kumar

You have over-indulged in your attack on that unfortunate soul that is Dharma Teja. Assuming the possibility that he is an embezzler, you should have been more merciful to him after the ordeal he's been through.

PanchganiDuleep Thomas

Wasted Talents

Nani Palkhivala's annual analysis of the Union Budget has repeatedly exposed the unimaginative nature of our economic policy, the results of which are glaringly evident ("Passing Judgement", March 31). It is a shame that Nani Palkhivala does not find a place in the actual formulation of the economic blueprint of our country. The nation is being deprived of the benefit of a brilliant brain obviously for political reasons.

KarnatakaC.P. Belliappa

The Poll Toll

Mrs Gandhi's name would no doubt appear in the Guinness Book of Records as the greatest champion of democracy - and that at the cost of bloodshed and human lives ("A State Ravaged", March 15).

KanhangadHaresh Shenoy

Mrs Gandhi's inflammatory speeches delivered to the illegal Bangladeshi Muslims in Assam and her seemingly deliberate avoidance of native Assamese population is sure to erupt into a situation far worse than the one created in Kashmir by her father when he went to the UN, on the advice of Lord Mountbatten, and declared unilaterally his willingness to hold a plebiscite there.

TexasA. Ghosh

The Government could have avoided the man-made blood-bath by amending the Constitution. The prime minister is known for her overnight ordinances and constitutional changes. Are these only to keep her in power and not to prevent bloodshed in Assam?

IranJaya P. Reddy

I don't know what this country has done to deserve Mrs Gandhi. Her insensitivity and thoughtlessness have reached intolerable proportions. She doesn't even admit her mistake in holding the Assam elections.

MadrasV. Bhatt

Humankind will never forgive those unscrupulous politicians, who, in order to fulfil their ambitions, decided to go through the elections in that ill-fated state. They virtually "engineered" the meaningless, bloody holocaust which followed.

MagadhPradeep Kumar

It seems that neither the Government nor the agitators are interested in finding a solution to the Assam problem. Perhaps the Government is under the impression that the problem will dissolve with the passage of time.

AboharKailash Chander Goyal

The best photograph was the one in which Mrs Gandhi is shown covering her face. I wish she could be produced in a court of the people in the same manner for killing so many innocent people.

AssamA.N. Singh

Nowhere has there been a mention of illegal Nepali immigrants in the state. You make it sound as though the only illegal immigrants are Bangladeshis.

GuwahatiH.K. Sarma

The Assam carnage has once again forced us to look at the face of democracy we uphold. It has once again exposed the shamelessness and vulnerability of our decadent system, where sycophancy and hypocrisy are the order of the day.

CalcuttaDipankar Sen Roy

Mrs Gandhi will always he condemned for the forced elections and the consequent holocaust which resulted in Assam. Never has the world seen such heinous decisions in the name of democracy.

AllahabadApoorva Misra

Fundamentalist Issue

Ershad's behaviour in Bangladesh ("Uneasy Truce", March 15) clearly highlights Islam's inherent inability to treat minorities as equals. If Bangladesh goes Islamic, then Hindus and Buddhists in that country may have to migrate to India. It is a pity that so many lives were lost in order to liberate Bangladesh from the clutches of the Pakistani bigots and that no remedial measures were taken or even attempted by India to prevent the situation developing now.

New YorkA. Govinda

Complete Newsmagazine

I never thought a magazine could be read cover-to-cover until I came across the March 15 issue.

CalcuttaTapan Kumar Basak

Breast is Best

The March 15 issue with the cover on Assam depicting dead children and the article on baby foods ("A Code of Misconduct") highlighting infant deaths shows how callous a society has become to children in general. Your sense of moral outrage on both issues was well conveyed, especially in the new editorial column.

GoaClaude Alvares

A survey of 100 homes in Jind, Haryana, showed that all mothers breast-fed their babies and bought no infant foods. Similar trends have been observed all over rural India and in small towns. In the metropolises, recent advertisements have, in fact, reinstated the otherwise dwindling faith in breast feeding. What could be gained by imposing a stricter form of legislation in a country, where breast feeding is a well established tradition?

JindAmita Pahwa

It is inconceivable that a mother having milk in adequate quantities will deprive her baby of it. The simple fact is that a growing infant needs milk beyond what a mother can possibly produce, hence the need for a supplemented diet.

A doctor, in need of supplement, will feed her own baby with fresh milk (cow or buffalo) undoubtedly, in preference to canned baby foods.

BangaloreArun K. Nagarkatti

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